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UK Post has suspended the acceptance of letters and parcels to Europe. It is reported that this suspension is due to a lack of enough UK mail room space. As well, the increased volume of parcels coming into the country has been cited as a reason for the change in policy. However, it is unclear as to why this change was implemented. There are however, explanations as to why the acceptance of parcels and letters to Europe has been suspended.
A spokesman for the Department of Transport (DOT) said, "The amount of mail coming into the UK has increased over recent months but not enough to make up for the demands on our facilities." He went onto explain that the new policy affects all types of parcel shipments, whether they are coming from outside the UK or internally. It is believed that the introduction of the surcharge may be aimed at improving the amount of processing time for letters and parcels to Europe. A surcharge similar to this was implemented last year when it became apparent that there was a significant increase in the volume of letters and parcels going through the ports of departure and arrival.
At the time, the government had been carrying out a review of the parcel process that led it to make some mistakes that were causing delays in the delivery of letters and parcels to European countries. These delays in the process were said to be causing costs to rise. The cost of sending parcels and letters from the UK to other countries has been calculated to be around six percent of the value of goods that have been sent. The new policy, which has just been introduced is believed to be part of a series of measures to improve the surcharges and fees that are applied when sending parcels to Europe. This new policy will only apply to commercial deliveries and will not apply to personal items or gifts. It is also hoped that the introduction of a cap on the cost of certain surcharges and fees could lead to the decline of the number of parcels being sent out each month. It has been reported that as many as one third of the commercial couriers are now likely to be charging more than two or three percent of the value of the parcel.
One reason why the UK Post Office suspends the acceptance of parcels and letters to Europe is because of the growing volume of traffic on the high-volume routes between the UK and Europe. It also saves time for the courier companies sending parcels to European countries. A typical day on one of these routes is about two hours long. This means that a company would need to send two parcels per day. This is in addition to the regular three parcels which a normal UK based business would send. In order to meet the increased demand, the freight forwarders and their agents now have to increase the size of their teams working in this area.
It is possible that in future, the UK post office may also suspend the acceptance of mail from outside Europe. If this were to happen there would be added costs for both the sender and the recipient of the parcels. This means that the surcharge for sending parcels to Europe would also increase. However, this is unlikely to happen. The amount of traffic on the high-volume routes going to the EU will reduce and the increase in the size of the teams working there will be enough to absorb any additional costs. If you have a company based in the UK and want to dispatch packages to Europe then you should consider working with a courier based in Europe. This will mean that your parcels can arrive to their destination faster and at a reduced cost. It is also possible that you can benefit from other types of special offers and discounts. Such offers include overnight parcel services and parcel storage facilities. If your post office is closing down your services then you can contact a courier company based in Europe to pick up your parcels.
There is a current clampdown affecting the transport of asbestos-contaminated material. This means that all the UK courier companies are now asking their clients to dispose of asbestos associated materials safely. The costs associated with this removal process are covered by the government in the form of a UK post surcharge. You can check this online before sending any parcels to Europe.
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